Search Results for: Cuban music

Larry Harlow ”El Judío de la Salsa”: innovative and irreverent

A set of innovative ideas

Recorded live on January 16, 1974 at Sing Sing Prison, listeners will immediately discover that the musicians actually came to play from the first note. In a recent conversation, Harlow considers this album to be one of the best of his career and tells how the enthusiasm of the audience positively affected the performance. This was the only Latin album to be recorded in quadraphonic format. The basic concept was similar to today’s surround sound systems, but the way to achieve the four audio channels changed in terms of format.

Harlow took advantage of new technology and recorded the live album live an 8-channel RCA unit and mixed the recording by spinning on a chair surrounded by four speakers. The Fania sound was created by New York musicians who added swing and a distinctive musical sensibility to Cuban son and other Spanish-speaking Caribbean genres. In the process, they twisted the music into something totally new. “Live in Quad” provides an opportunity to hear that musical transformation, as the main part of the music from this concert consists of compositions by Arsenio Rodriguez.

In the 1950s, Harlow made several visits to Cuba, where he followed and became friends with Rodriguez. Back in New York, he had the opportunity to play with his idol and eventually dedicated an full album to him. For Harlow, the piano is overdubbed and interacted with a harpsichord, simulating the union of the tres and the piano made by Arsenio. This album sounds as exciting and fresh as it did 32 years ago. “Señor Sereno,” Harlow’s big hit with Ismael Miranda, opens the album. Junior Gonzalez, who debuted with Harlow in Hommy, gives us his own version. On a personal level, this performance is an example of the Fania sound: great orchestral work, swing and energy.

More details about the album

Also from Hommy, the song “Gracia Divina” grows in intensity with Tony Jiménez’s brilliant rhythmic fills over Harlow’s guajeos and the powerful swing of the horn section. Justo Betancourt’s gifted voice stars in the treatment given by Harlow to “Mayari” by Compay Segundo. “Jóvenes Del Muelle” is another Cuban classic, arranged by the great Barry Rogers. The arrangement and playing evoke classic ensembles while still sounding modern. Here we listen to trombone solos and a tasty bass solo by Eddie Guagua Rivera.

To date, Harlow is best known for his version of “The Wallet.” This arrangement by Sam Burtis in a masterclass. Notice the Lilí Martínez’s influence in Harlow’s solo, followed by fine trumpet solos and another violin solo by Lewis Kahn. “Tumba y Bongo” was originally composed for Arsenio’s rhythm section (Kila, Quique and Chocolate). This arrangement by Mark Weinstein highlights an exciting hand-to-hand between Pablo Rosario and Tony Jimenez, who delights the audience when he raises his drum in the middle of the solo.

“Suéltala” provides a framework for Júnior González’s soneos while offering exciting solos by Reynaldo Jorge and Nicky Marrero. “Arsenio”, the theme song of the dramatic album Harlow recorded in tribute to his musical hero, gets the matancero flavor of Justo Betancourt with Tony Jimenez standing out with another great solo. In “Descarga Final,” Harlow unleashes the creativity of the members of his orchestra and the singers exchange soneos in a friendly hand-to-hand. Guagua offers another impressive solo while the percussionists are meant to steal the show.

Credits:

Ralph Castrella – Trumpet

Charlie Miller – Trumpet

Junior Gonzalez – Maracas

Larry Harlow – Piano, Harpsichord

Reynaldo Jorge – Trombone

Pablo “El Indio” Rosario – Bongo, Cowbell

Anthony “Tony” Jimenez – Congas

Nicky Marrero – Timbales

Eddie “Guagua” Rivera – Bass

Lewis Kahn – Trombone, Violin

Lead Singers – Justo Betancourt, Junior Gonzalez

Choir – Adalberto Santiago, Larry Harlow, Ralp Castrella

Master Of Ceremonies – Paco Navarro

Producer – Larry Harlow

Engineer – Bernie Fox

Assistant Engineer – Randall Shepherd

Mixing – Good Vibration Studios, N. Y. C.

Recorded Live – Sing Sing, January 16, 1974.

Arrangements – Louie Cruz (“Señor Sereno,” “Gracia Divina”), Larry Harlow (“Mayari,”, “Descarga Final”), Barry Rogers (“Jóvenes del Muelle”), Sam Burtis (“La Cartera”), Mark Weinstein (“Tumba y Bongo”), Charlie Camilleri (“Suéltala”), Bobby Valentín (“Arsenio”)

Original Album Cover – Gary Mason

Metal Graphic Art From Original Album – Charlie Rosario

Devised used by Harlow — Device used by Harlow to record the album

Señor Sereno
Ismael Miranda

Garcia Divina
Larry Harlow / Jenaro ”Heny’’ Álvarez

Mayarí

Jóvenes Del Muelle
Sabino Peñalver

La Cartera
Arsenio Rodríguez

Tumba Y Bongó
Arsenio Rodríguez

Suéltala
Arsenio Rodríguez

Arsenio
Larry Harlow / Ismael Miranda

Vicentico Valdés “The elastic voice” of Bolero in Cuba and the Caribbean

“The earrings that the moon lacks I have kept to make you a necklace”.

Vicente Valdés was born in the neighborhood of Cayo Hueso, Havana, on January 10, 1921. He was the younger brother of Alfredito Valdés (1908-1988), a versatile singer who performed with numerous sones groups, ensembles and orchestras in Cuba until, around 1940, he settled outside Cuba, mainly in New York and Mexico, where he continued his artistic career.

Two of Vicente’s other brothers, Marcelino and Oscar, stood out as percussionists, and the latter also as a singer in the Irakere group.

Also known as “La voz elástica” Vicentico is one of the most celebrated interpreters of the bolero with a great interpretative strength and dramatization in his performance for the benefit of couples in love who enjoy his songs to this day.

Valdés was part of “El Septeto Nacional”, the orchestra of Cheo Belén Puig, “La Cosmopolita”, the orchestras of Noro Morales, Arturo Núñez and Tito Puente,

In 1937, recommended by Alfredo, Vicentico sang for a short time with the Segundo Septeto Nacional, a group that had been founded to share the multiple artistic commitments that the renowned Septeto Nacional of Ignacio Piñeiro received at that time. He was also a member of the sones sextet Jabón Candado.

Vicentico Valdés La voz elástica del Bolero en Cuba

Later, he replaced Alfredo as a singer in the orchestra of Cheo Belén Puig, one of the most famous Cuban groups of the charanga format. Later, he joined the jazz band Cosmopolita, led by Vicente Viana and later by pianist and composer Humberto Suárez.

Together with Marcelino Guerra Rapindey and Cristóbal Dobal, among others, he was part of the sextet Los Leones.

In the mid-1940s, due to the difficult economic situation in Cuba after World War II, Vicentico, like many other Cuban artists of the time, went to Mexico to explore new horizons for his work in music.

In the Mexican capital he performed with Humberto Cané’s conjunto Tropical, and the orchestras of Arturo Núñez, Rafael de Paz and Chucho Rodríguez, with whom he later recorded with Benny Moré. In those years he received his first ovations on the stage of the Follies.

In Mexico, between 1946 and 1947, he made recordings for the Peerless label, backed by the orchestras of the Mexican Rafael de Paz and the Cuban Absalón Pérez.

The repertoire chosen for these records consisted almost entirely of guarachas, afros and sones montunos, which had been popularized in Cuba by Orlando Guerra Cascarita with the Orquesta Casino de la Playa.

Vicentico was hired as a singer of the musical group of the Puerto Rican pianist Noro Morales in New York at the end of 1947. In that city he had a successful season at the Hispanic Theater which, according to the chronicles of the time, “consecrated him in the taste of the Latin community”. He also performed at the Million Dollars, Park Plaza and Puerto Rico theaters.

In 1948 he joined Tito Puente’s orchestra as a singer, along with his brother Alfredo. With Puente he recorded his first boleros (among them “Quiéreme y verás”, by José Antonio Méndez) for the Seeco label. Until then he had been used mainly as an interpreter of upbeat numbers. With Tito Puente he made numerous recordings throughout his career.

In 1953, the Seeco record company promoted a group of recordings with the Sonora Matancera, which had great repercussion in Cuba, where he was hardly known, and in other Caribbean countries.

Among the pieces recorded in Havana in November of that year were two boleros (“Una aventura”, by Elisa Chiquitica Méndez and “Decídete mi amor”, by José Antonio Méndez), a genre in which he achieved the greatest triumphs of his career.

From then on, in New York, with great studio orchestras conducted by René Hernández, Joe Cain, and later Charlie and Eddie Palmieri, he made new recordings that were quickly distributed throughout Latin America.

Their repertoire during this stage (early 1960s) included boleros and songs by authors of different tendencies and styles; the Cubans René Touzet, Javier Vázquez, José Antonio Méndez, Piloto y Vera, Pepé Delgado, Juan Pablo Miranda, Marta Valdés and the Rigual brothers; the Puerto Ricans Silvia Rexach, Myrta Silva and Rafael Hernández; the Dominicans Rafael Solano and Manuel Troncoso; and the Mexicans Manuel Prado, Luis Demetrio and Armando Manzanero.

Vicente Valdés y La Oquesta de Bobby Valentin

La Sonora Matancera among others no less important. He also excelled in other genres such as Mambo, Guaguancó, Son and Guaracha.

He was an exceptional singer with a particular style that set the standard and also spread the best Latin American bolero composers, particularly those of the Cuban Feeling, of which he was a valuable promoter at an international level. His career as a soloist was impeccable.

He died in a New York hospital on the morning of June 26, 1995, according to a heart attack.

Source: En Caribe

Sonora Matancera

No man is a prophet in his own land

“Cherry” Navarro, the Latin American Elvis Presley

As indicated the title of this material, no man is a prophet in his own land and one of the best proofs of that is Cherry Navarro, one of the greatest artists that Venezuela has given birth to, whose talent has not been matched despite the time elapsed.

Alexis Enrique Navarro Velásquez, artistically known as Cherry Navarro, was a Venezuelan singer and musician born in Caripito, Monagas State, on July 9, 1944 with the marriage of his parents Manuel de Jesús Navarro and María de Jesús Velázquez de Navarro. He had five other siblings whoe names were Manuel, Rene. Lelys, Audy and Carlos, the latter also being a great artist today.

After age 14, he moved with his family to the parish of El Valle, Caracas, where he would continue his studies and start his way in the world of music with some friends in his area. One of them was the world famous José Luis Rodríguez ”El Puma”, with whom Cherry shared his passion for music, a group called ”Canaima” and a close friendship.

Alexis Enrique Navarro Velásquez, whose artistic name was Cherry Navarro

Beginnings in music

By deciding that he wanted to dedicate himself professionally to music, he started training in various instruments and performing at small parties and meetings to gain fame and become known. It was not long before he was invited to participate in the TV show ”Show Del Twist”, which would represent a giant leap in the musical and public life of the young artist.

Some time later, he was spotted by Chelique Sarabia, who invited him to join his group and started a media tour that helped him gain even more popularity and fans all over the national territory.

In the 1960s, he met the woman who would become his wife and mother of his son Belkis Montero, a Cuban national, but it did not take long for them to divorce due to the artist’s busy schedule and professional commitments, which prevented him from spending enough time with his family. Their little boy was named José Enrique Navarro Montero.

In 1964, he recorded his first album with Velvet de Venezuela and named it ”Pavísimo” which would contain some of his best known pieces such as ”Hoy”, ”Amor Goajiro” and ”Confidente”. Around the same time, he had a cameo appearance in the movie ”Soltero En Apuros”, in which his song ”Hoy” was part of the soundtrack.

In Mexico, one of the first countries to receive him with open arms, he recorded a long-playing album called ”Me Conformo” and some of his most important songs were ”Me Conformo”, ”Norma” and ”Si Dios Me Quita La Vida”.

Cherry Navarro and his girlfriend María de las Casas Mcgrill

Time in Europe

In 1966, he permanently separated from Montero and started a romantic relationship with former beauty queen María de Las Casas McGill, who would become his public relationist and be a fundamental piece in the internationalization of Cherry as one of the greatest artists of the time. the first steps in that direction were the preparation of Navarro in languages and the Maria’s completion of diplomacy studies.

Thanks to the efforts made by the new love of the singer, both were able to travel to Spain, a country that would be key in the exponential growth in the singer’s popularity. It is in that territory where the young woman got the necessary connections in order to get Cherry to record with the label Polidor, which meant an enormous prestige for a Venezuelan at that time. Not any Latin could record with such an important label in the European country.

Thanks to all the gains made in Europe, he was received in Venezuela with distinction. Finally, the humble young man from Caripito had delivered his dreams and was at the peak of his popularity. Both Cherry and Felipe Pirela were the most played artists of the moment and all the TV shows of that time were fighting to have their performances in their studios. One of those was the show hosted by the unforgettable Renny Ottolina, who received him with all honors despite his short career.

In 1967, while in Madrid, the city chosen by the singer as his work base in the Old Continent, he had the great idea to use the song ”Aleluya” written by Luis Eduardo Aute, make his own version and add to it his particular touch. The result could not have been better. Cherry’s version became a national and international sales success that established the Venezuelan as one of the greatest ones in Latin America. It continues to be listened to in the main radio stations of the country in spite of the decades that have passed.

Cover of the album ''Aleluya'' — Cover of the album ”Aleluya”

Death

In the aforesaid year, he had an intense international tour in which he had to travel to Colombia, Mexico and the Antilles. In the middle of the tour, he noticed some signs that something could be wrong with his health, such as the lack of wound healing while shaving, nosebleeds and extreme pallor. Seeing he had a lot of professional commitments, he preferred to ignore these symptoms and move forward with his responsibilities. However, there were so many discomforts that he could no longer ignore them.

In fact, he was once forbidden to travel to Spain where she had a series of performances that could not be postponed, but Cherry refused to cancel his trip and disappoint his fans. His doctor’s advice came after he found some bruises on his stomach and legs.

Soon after, he was diagnosed with bone marrow aplasia and refused a bone marrow transplant with one of his brothers in a desperate attempt to save his life. Unfortunately it was all in vain and the talented Venezuelan finally lost his life on September 28, 1967 at only 23 years of age.

For the Venezuelan society of that day, the artist’s departure was an extremely strong blow and thousands of fans were felt from the very moment that the news announced his death. At 10 am on September 29, the funeral cortege began to scort the body of the singer from the Vallés funeral home to the headquarters of the Asociación Venezolana de Artistas de la Escena (EVADE) and then to Radio Caracas Televisión, a channel with which the artist had an exclusive contract.

TV hosts Guillermo ''Fantástico'' González and Renny Ottolina at Cherry Navarro's funeral — TV hosts Guillermo ”Fantástico” González and Renny Ottolina at Cherry Navarro’s funeral

Alng the way, there were all kinds of intense reactions from many women who admired Cherry in life, such as tears, faints, screams and wailings. It was even reported that 17-year-old Melba Elena Contreras took her own life at the news of Navarro’s death.

During those days, numerous Venezuelan and foreign media outlets reported the news with pictures of the crowd that accompanied this young promise to his final resting place, showing the love that Venezuelan people felt for this musical icon since he became known until his last breath.

Newspaper clipping about Cherry Navarro's death — Newspaper clipping about Cherry Navarro’s death

Alberto Beltrán “A mí me llaman el negrito del Batey” and Bailar medio apreta’o con una negra bien sabrosa

Alberto Amancio Beltrán (Palo Blanco, La Romana, May 5, 1923 – Miami, February 2, 1997) was a Dominican singer, known in the Latin American musical world as “El Negrito del Batey”.

Early years

Beltrán was born in the town of Palo Blanco, in the province of La Romana. As a child, he barely had a basic education because his family’s economic situation forced him to sell candy on the streets. At the age of fourteen he was attracted to music and debuted as an amateur singer on the radio. This first artistic incursion led him to take singing lessons.

Alberto Beltrán “A mí me llaman el negrito del Batey”

From 1946 to 1951 he belonged to several groups in his country, such as “Brisas de Oriente”. Later, he formed his own group called “Dominican Boys”.

International projection

In 1951 he emigrated to Puerto Rico. There, he recorded with “Los Diablos del Caribe”, a group led by Mario Hernández, the song “El 19”.

He then traveled to Cuba, first to Santiago and then to Havana on July 15, 1954, to work with the Puerto Rican composer and singer Myrta Silva on Radio Mambí.

On August 16 of that same year, he was requested by the Sonora Matancera and recorded the composition Ignoro tu existencia by Rafael Pablo de la Motta and Aunque me cueste la vida by the Dominican Luis Kalaff. Both songs, in bolero rhythm, were recorded on the same 78 rpm disc.

On November 16, he recorded the merengue El negrito del batey composed by Medardo Guzmán, which catapulted him internationally as it became a sales hit.

From there came the nickname with which he became popular. That same day he also recorded the boleros Todo me gusta de Ti by Cuto Esteves, Enamorado de la inspiración by José Balcalcer and, for the second time, El 19 by Radhamés Reyes Alfau.

Beltrán nació en la localidad de Palo Blanco en Cuba

On January 18, 1955 he recorded his last pieces with the Orquesta Sonora Matancera. Then, he spent some time in Venezuela where he left phonographic records with the orchestras “Sonora Caracas”, Los Megatones de Lucho and the Orquesta de Jesús “Chucho” Sanoja.

Hired by the Dominican musician settled in Venezuela, Billo Frómeta, he participated in two albums recorded in Cuban studios: “Evocación” (1956) in which he performed as a soloist and “La Lisa-Maracaibo”, in which he shared credits with the Cuban singer Carlos Díaz.

What does El negrito del batey mean?

In the Dominican Republic the batey smells of black and the black often smells of batey. Both evoke in their generality misery and human abandonment, fruit of injustice and discrimination. This is so, although it pains us to say it

The Negrito of the Batey

They call me the little black man of the batey

Because work for me is an enemy

To work I leave everything to the ox

Because work was made by God as a punishment

I like the merengue apambicha’o

With a black woman who is a retrechera and a good girl

I like to dance de medio la’o

I like to dance half tight with a tasty black girl

Hey!

Get your ass out of here!

There!

They call me the little black guy from the batey

Because work for me is an enemy

To work I leave everything to the ox

Because God made work as a punishment

I like the merengue apambicha’o

With a black woman who is a retrechera and a good girl

I like to dance de medio la’o

I like to dance half tight with a tasty black girl

Hey, there!

And you tell me if it’s not true

Merengue much better

And you say if it’s not true

Merengue much better

Because that of working

It’s a pain for me

Because that of working

To me it causes me pain, it sounds!

The meek ox works hard

But he never gets dengue fever

The meek ox works hard

But he never gets the dengue

I’ll dance with a good black woman

I’ll dance to a good merengue

But I never get tired

To dance a good merengue, it sounds!

There, candela!

Finbroso, hey!

The gentle ox works hard

But he never gets the dengue

A lot of work the gentle ox works hard

But he never gets the dengue

But I never get tired

Of dancing a good merengue

But I never get tired

Of dancing a good merengue, it sounds!

There!

Dominicanize!

Sonora Matancera

Javier Cabanillas and his Cabanijazz Project

It has been a privilege for International Salsa Magazine to talk to Mexican bandleader, professor and musician Javier Cabanillas, who told us in detail about his life from the day he started in music until today, when the fruits of all the hard work and great talent are seen.

Interesting beginnings

Javier begins by speaking of his beginnings in the world of music on the streets of Tijuana, in his native Mexico. He tells us that he used to work in San Diego, USA, and Tijuana is a border city, so he had to cross the border every day in order to fulfill his professional commitments.

On his days off, he often went to what is known colloquially as ”sobremesas” or ”tianguis”, which are closed streets where vendors set up their stands to offer their goods to passersby. In those places, he played the conga, as he felt that this was a space where he could freely express his art in front of an audience, although his dream was to do it on stage. What he did not know was that sooner or later it would come true.

Javier did not think he could walking down a red carpet in Los Angeles, since his activity was completely informal. He was just looking to blow off some steam and drain daily stress. I felt very comfortable playing the conga as I did, but over time, I began to professionalize myself in the musical area and that is how I have gradually achieved what I have set myself out to do,” says the artist.

Although it is a long time ago, Javier remembers very fondly those years because that gentle scene and that communication with people on the street helped him to develop the warmth an artist needs to connect with the audience.

Javier Cabanillas and his Cabanijazz Project at the 62nd Monterrey Jazz Festival

How have your Latin roots affected your career in the United States?

As to how his roots have affected his career, Javier says that he had to learn most things on the go, but always ramaining respectful toward all cultures in which his music was involved. He mentions this as his origins are focused on northern Mexico where the typical thing is to listen to norteño and banda music, but he did not choose those genres for his career, but jazz and Afro-Cuban rhythms. ”I had a lot of respect for that culture because I felt that it was not completely mine, which led me to be much more responsible and respectful when experimenting with this market,” he said.

When talking about learning to play an instrument or genre that does not belong to his culture, he said that there are always some limitations because musical language will always vary. In his case, the kind of musical language comprehensible to him is that of mariachi or banda music, making easier for him to identify certain elements. When he went to live in San Francisco, he spent time with musicians from all nationalities and could realize that they were not able to do many of the things that were not proper from their countries of origin. This makes learning more complicated, but not impossible.

In that sense, Cabanillas says there are some useful techniques to learn to play instruments and rhythms we did not grow up with, so there is a revolution of percussionists and musicians who have managed to break that mold. The Internet has played an extremely important role in all this, as artists of all kinds can access content that helps them improve and develop professionally. In his particular case, YouTube and these online tools did not exist, so he could only count on his ear and imitate what he heard to learn.

Cabanillas' music is based on jazz and Afro-Cuban rhythms — Cabanillas’ music is based on jazz and Afro-Cuban rhythms

The Grammy

One of the great victories in Cabanillas’ artistic life was the Grammy he won with the Pacific Mambo Orchestra. Since the members of the group did not have the necessary funds to produce an album, they turned to other financing options supported by the community through an online fundraising campaign. The intention was that anyone could make a donation or even buy the album in advance.

30 days later, they achieved their goal and recorded the album. Javier was one of the 36 musicians who participated in the production and his role was to be in charge of percussion with his congas. The orchestra was not supported by any major label, so they did everything independently. This gave them more control over what they wanted to offer to the audience, since they were not subject to what any management wanted from them. This meant that the process of preparing the material was very organic and spontaneous.

When the album came into competition in the ”Best Tropical Album of the Year” category, it managed to be among the five best nominees along with Marc Anthony, Carlos Vives, Los Ángeles Azules, Sergio George, Oscar D’ León and many more. Three of them were working with Sony Latin Music, so they had great chance chances to win because they worked with such a big label, while Pacific Mambo did not have all that machinery behind them, not even close.

Javier Cabanillas with the Grammy he won with the Pacific Mambo Orchestra

That’s how we were invited to Los Angeles, walked down the red carpet like the rest of the artists and took a huge surprise to win the Grammy in our category. At that moment, I felt that all my effort was worthwhile” the conguero said excitedly. He confesses that he and his orchestra fellows did not expect the win because they were the least popular nominees in the category. Fortunately, the judges focused their attention on the quality of their work and not on their popularity at the time.

Cabanijazz Project

As noted, the name of the group is a play on words between the artist’s last name and the word ”jazz”. The whole idea came up in Tijuana, where he was clear that he wanted to start a project in which he would not limited to a single rhyming scheme. He did not want to use something as generic and worn-out as ”Javier Cabanillas Y Su Orquesta”, so he started to play with other elements to obtain an original name that would capture the essence he wanted to show. This is how the name ”Cabanijazz Project” was born.

The project started as a quintet that played in several festivals and events, achieving some success in a short time. Later, he added more musicians until having eight. When he started working in San Francisco, he began studying more and absorb the culture around him for a few years. Some time later, he restarted his project again with Bay Area musicians and started uploading his material to music platforms such as ITunes and Spotify.

Among the instruments used by his group, the trombone, the tenor saxophone and the baritone cannot be left out. They are the three largest wind instruments in the brass range, so they were the ones that achieved the sound Javier was looking for in his orchestra.

Another important detail is that the music they play is entirely original and they only change their repertoire a little when they play live.

San Francisco Salsa Festival 2023

One of the group’s upcoming performances will be at the annual San Francisco Salsa Festival to be held in March 2023. Cabanillas says that one day he received an email from the event organizers informing him that Cabanijazz Project was the choice to play there. They were recommended by several of Javier’s friends and colleagues who assured the organizers that the band was the best choice for its quality.

They have already played three times at the festival before the pandemic resulted in the suspension of the event, so the artist and his musicians already have a lot of experience entertaining the tough Bay Area audience. Cabanijazz Project will be the opening band for the festival and will perform along with two other local groups that will also offer their talent to the attendees.